Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1887-03-02
THE WRIT REFUSED.
Judge speer's Decision in the
Hoover Habeas Corpus Case.

Z Hoover habeas corpus case.
Z The case came before tue court on an
application for writ Of habeas corpus,
4 G. y. West, Esq, being counsel for the
I petitioner, and Solicitor General Fleming
q. duBiguon representing the Sheriff Of
/ Chatham county.
In reviewing the case, his honor said:
The petition alleges that Hoover Is ille-
/ gally restrained Of his liberty because be
Z made application to the Board Of County
/ Commissioners Tor license to sell liquor
IN Quantities less than one gallon at
Montgomery, a suburban resort OF Savan-
nah, and the license was reius. d. This
I was done in the exercise Of the power
I granted TO the Commissioners by the act
Z OF the General Assembly nj the State Of
{ Georgia, approved Oct. 16, 1885. entitled:
IAN act TO change the manner Of granting
I lie nse for the sale Of spirItunus liquors,
as contained in section l4l9 OF the Code Of
this State, as amended by the act APP
| proved Dec. p. 1884, and for other pur-
poses whereby it was provided that
/ persons before obtaining license TO re-
tail spirituous liquors, or sell the same in
any quantity less than one gallon, must ap-
ply TO the Ordinary Of the cOunty,or 70 the
! County Commissioners ofthe county, when
sucn courts exist, In which they desire to
! retail or sell in any quantity less than
one gallon, who have power to grant or
| refuse such application. Before any
/ license shall be granted the applicant
shall present to the Ordinary the written
consent OF ten of the nearest bona fde
( residents, five OF whom shall be freehold
ers, owning land irrespective Of county
| lines, nearest to the place OF business
where such spIrituOus liquors are to be
sold; provided that this act shall not APP
| ply 20 incorporated towns or CITIES"
ri tFad hat
the State law was opposed TO that clause
Of the United States constitution which
says:
No State shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridgc the privileges or i'm
. munities OF citizens of the I nited states; nor
( email any state deprive any person Of life.
/ liberty or property without due process OF
I law; nor deny to any person within its juris-
dlcti0n the equal protection OF the laws.
IN commenting on states power,
the court said: "When the political
power OF the State for the safety OF its
people takes the responsibility Of saying
that certain occupations are burtful, and
Will not be permittsd in It's boundaries,
unless that declaration is so unreason-
able as to violate and outrage natural
justice, it is purely political responsi-
Diity and there IS an end Of the matter.
Salu5 populi suprema lex, and
the only appeal is 10 the force
OF public opinion or its expires.
sion at the ballot box. That occupation
so stigmatized is no longer a right, pTIv-
lege, or immunity. Is the sale OF intOxi-
eating liquors an occupation OF that sort?
Let the Supreme Court Of the UnKed
States answer: the right TO sell intOxi-
eating liquors is not one OF the privileges
and immunitles of citizens Of the United
states, which, by the fourteenth amend
ment, the States were forbidden to
abridge.' Tine weight OF authority is
overwhelming that no such immunity
| heretofore existed as would prevent state
Legislatures from regulating, and even
prohibiting the traffic in intoxicating
drinks Bartemyer VS.. Iowa. IL
| Wall. 49,"
Continuing. Judge speer observed: "If
the State may prohibit the sale Of liquor
altogether, since it is clearly not a
privilege or an immunity in the mean
ing OF the constitution, may IL not author
Ize the sale on such terms, by such per-
sons, and at such places as it thinks
proper and, II it may do this directly.
may il not delegate to others the exercise
of the power? II has simply delegated
portion of its sovereignty to the County
Commissioners OF Chatham county.
The Comm ssioners, in the exercise OF
that sovereignty, refuse a license to
the petitioner. Tine discretion must rest
some where. The State mi ght have exer-
cised it. 1t entrusts its discretion TO the
Board Of County Commissioners and, as
| have said, by the terms OF the grant,
this discretion 10 final and not review Bile.
This power Is inseparable from the SOW
ereignty of the State. The powers of the
courts OF the general government have
nothing to do with 1t. 1t is a local regu-
lation, and relates exclusively to the i'm
ternal police of the State. License cases,
9th Howard, 573."
In conclusion his honor said: cit is
| ~.
| petitioner IL not regarded by the courts
as a harmless and useful occupation
To cite cases upon this proposition is
waste Of time.
"rhe particular legislation before the
court, affecting as 1t does the rural com
munities OF the State, was Of supreme
necessity and OF supreme reasona-
bleness. In incorporated towns
aud cities tine law Is presumed
To be present in the persons of its
municipal officers and it's police force.
The brutal excuses OF uug0vernable and
dangerous men when lnflamed with drink
may be readily Tepressed and the perpe-
traitor punished. 1t is otherwise in the
quiet and sparsely settled neighbornoods
where the farmers and their wives and
children,
Far from the madding crowd ignoble strife
Pursue the noseless tenor of their way
"The crossroads GROCERY was the bane
of our civilization. A simple, artless
and industrious lsbOring population, in
famed aud enervated with drink, became
worthless as labOrers, irresponsible as
citizens, unreliable in ali the relations OF
life, aud the more vicious, very DANCER
GUS to society. IL is superfuous to diate
upon facts 80 well known and which have
mainly caused the tremendous wave OF
public sentiment toward local option.
1t is historically true that incaIculaDle
benefit has been accomplished I'M
der the operation of this law, and
that of which 1t is an amendment, by
conscientious and fearless county off,
cials, who have steadily refused to license
dram shopS where there could be- no
police supervision. | state these things
because in considering the reasonable
ness of the law the court will take cog
nizance of the history OF the times in
which IL was enacted, and understanding
the mischief can the better understand
the remedy. Notwithstanding the great
ability and learning with which the ap-
pication for the writ was urged, | must
decline TO grant it, and it will be 80 Or
dered."
1t IS understood that the case will. ne
appealed to the United States Circuit
Court.
| A Correction.